Tenerife & Gran Canaria lead Second Division after opening victories

The Spanish second division is nearing the end of its second matchday, and fans of the Canary Islands clubs are likely to be rubbing their eyes in disbelief: Tenerife and Gran Canaria are joint top of the table. UD Las Palmas have their sights set on promotion. The situation is different for CD Tenerife: having only recently been promoted back to the Segunda División, the club is not a clear favourite for promotion to La Liga.

Tenerife manager Álvaro Cervera is quick to dampen the euphoria: „We need 44 points to be safe,“ said the manager after the team’s second win in as many games. He is referring to the points total required at the end of the season to presumably avoid relegation. Last year, the first team to avoid relegation needed 43 points.

This makes it clear where CD Tenerife are looking in the table: having just been promoted from the Third Division, this season is all about survival. The situation is different for UD Las Palmas. The Gran Canaria side were relegated from the top flight three seasons ago. After two seasons in the lower division, their neighbours are clearly setting their sights on the promotion places. And so, whilst both clubs currently share top spot in the Second Division, they have completely different objectives.

Tenerife and Gran Canaria dominate the 2nd Division at the start of the season

CD kicked off the season with a 3-1 win away at Eibar. Meanwhile, UD secured a slightly tighter 2-1 victory over Albacete. This was followed on Saturday by a 2-0 win in Ceuta, whilst Tenerife won their first home match 1-0 against Almería on Sunday.

Even if Andorra and Mallorca win their matches on Monday against Celta Vigo B and Granada – and, depending on goal difference, could even take top spot – the start to the season has gone perfectly from the perspective of the two rival Canary Islands sides. No wonder the clubs are immediately calling for calm. „What remains are three points, six in total,“ said Tenerife manager Cervera matter-of-factly.

In Las Palmas, it may be a little harder to rein in the euphoria: the club hasn’t started a second-tier season with two wins for 27 years. In the 1999/2000 season, Las Palmas began with a 2-1 win against Tenerife and followed that up with a 2-1 victory in Gijón. On the third matchday, however, they suffered a 2-1 defeat in front of their home crowd against Huelva. At least Tenerife managed to pick up points consistently right up to the fifth matchday following their derby defeat – with three wins and a draw.

Tenerife and Gran Canaria take it one match at a time

There is no room for nostalgia on Gran Canaria and Tenerife at the moment, however. Tenerife manager Cervera prefers to draw on the old footballing adage of taking it one match at a time. And up next on Friday is Sporting Gijón, who also started with two wins and are travelling to the Estadio Heliodoro Rodríguez López in fourth place only because they have scored two fewer goals. Meanwhile, Las Palmas are away at Girona on Saturday.

Whether the Canary Islands‘ representatives go into the match as league leaders or are knocked off the top spot on Monday evening by Mallorca, Andorra or even both is, at least officially, of no concern to the coaches. Behind closed doors, however, the celebrations are likely to have been a little louder than in public.

Looking ahead to the season, the objectives are clear: „We’re not as quick in attack as we’d like to be. That’s the key. We’re still a bit short of the mark there, and that’s what we’ll be working on,“ said Cervera. And whilst the fans on Tenerife are delighted with the start to the season, everyone there is waiting for one specific date: When Matchday 20 comes round shortly after the New Year, the two Canary Islands clubs will face off in a direct clash. The date for the first leg has not yet been finalised, but it will take place around 3 January on Gran Canaria. And CD still have something to make up for: their poor start to the 1999/2000 Second Division season.